It's All Relative
by H.G. Stewart
Summary: When Jesse shares a little known personal fact with Tommy Vineyard, he never dreamed his revelation would suprise a total stranger.
1. Chapter 1

**_Fishin's a popular pastime in Hazzard County, and one of the best fishin' spots to be had lies right in the middle of the Frothy Meadows Camp for Disabled Children. But just because it's one of the best, don't automatically make it THE best. The title to that spot depends on who you are. And if you plan on sharing that bit of information to a kid who's partial to fishin', like young Tommy Vineyard, you better be prepared to deliver him to said spot. Not that you'd mind much, that kid has a way of growin' on ya. _**

"Awwww Tommy, c'mon now, I don't wanna git my clothes wet!"

"But Bo, did you see the size of that thing?" Tommy Vineyard asked, his eight year old eyes gleaming in excitement as he leaned forward in his wheelchair, his hands firmly grasping the fishing pole.

"Yeah, I saw it." Bo sighed. Bo had done a lot of fishing in his day here at Catfish Marsh, and that was truly one of the biggest catfish he had ever seen. As Tommy had pulled and reeled expertly, the fish had jumped out of the water and quickly gone back under, bringing Tommy's line beneath an underwater log, dashing all hopes of bringing it in the normal way.

"I'll betcha that thing's still on the hook, just stuck under there." Tommy theorized. "Oh please Bo, I just gotta have it. I'm tired of hearin' ole' Brandon Miller brag about that big carp he pulled in last summer over at the camp."

Bo sighed as he looked at the murky water, made orange by the marriage of recent rains and Georgia red clay. "I hope you realize it's gonna take a week of baths for my skin to return to it's original color." Bo announced, taking off his shirt. "Here, hold that." He added, handing the shirt to Tommy before he fussed with his belt buckle.

"Well don't take too long." Tommy insisted. "Mrs. Davis is gonna skin me alive if I don't git back 'fore long.."

"Not as bad as Daisy'd skin me if I showed up askin' her to git that stuff outta my clothes." Bo announced, tossing the pants on top of his shirt. "Now you just stay right there and don't get any closer to the water than ya already are."

"Okay Bo." Tommy promised as Bo grabbed onto the line and followed it into the water, wearing nothing more than his boxer shorts.

When Bo got chest deep he frowned. "You absolutely sure you want that fish, Tommy?"

" Brandon ain't gonna go on my word, Bo!" Tommy insisted.

Heaving a sigh, Bo took a deep breath before he closed his eyes and went under, feeling around for the line that was impossible to see in the murk. After coming up for a couple of breaths and going back under, he finally found it. Sure enough, it was snaked under a log.

As he felt around to the other side of the log, he found the catfish still securely attached to the hook. As he freed the fish, he quickly felt himself running out of breath.

Kicking off to go to the surface, a branch of the log caught on to his boxer shorts. Although Bo struggled against it for a few panic filled moments, he managed to hold onto the wiggiling catfish. Finally having to decide which item was more important, he kicked himself out of his shorts before bobbing to the surface.

"Bo!" Tommy yelled, a slight panic in his voice as Bo coughed. "Bo are you alright?"

"Fine (cough) Tommy." Bo replied as he struggled to take breaths and focus on his surroundings.

"Did you get it?" Tommy yelled out hopefully.

Holding up the fish, Bo turned around where Tommy could see it, having come up facing the opposite direction. Once he did so, his face immediately fell as Tommy's brightened.

"That IS a big fish. Bigger than Brandon's ole' carp any day. Don't you think so, Mrs. Davis?"

Mrs. Davis, the counselor who had shown up during the retrieval, eyed the fish.. "It certainly does Tommy. I think you've got a winner there!"

"Of course, what else can you expect from my boy?"

Tommy peered at the man who had just stepped out from behind Ms. Davis. "Dad?!" He gleamed in excitement.

As Tommy threw his fishing pole down, Mr. Vineyard scooped him up in his arms and swung him around as the pair laughed in glee. "Aw, it's good ta see ya kiddo! You ain't been givin' Mrs. Davis here a fit, have ya?"

"C'mon dad. How much damage can a kid in a wheelchair do?" Tommy asked innocently.

"Plenty." His dad replied, placing Tommy back in his chair before playfully pushing his son's nose with a finger. "You can fool some people with that innocent expression, but ya can't fool yer old man. I's the one that raised ya, remember?"

Tommy giggled a boyish giggle. "Well, if I've got into anything it's Bo's fault, 'cause I'm gonna be just like him when I grow up." He announced, nodding toward Bo who looked like a winning roll model as he stood waist deep in the murky marsh water while holding the fish.

"Mr. Duke, come on out of there and say hello to Mr. Vineyard." Mrs. Davis suggested.

"Well ma'am, I'd like to, but….." He trailed off, nodding toward his clothes that were now on the ground as Tommy had been removed from his seat.

"Oh!" Ms. Davis replied, reddening slightly in embarrassment. "Well we'll take Tommy back to the camp. Soon as you're dressed, come on over."

Bo offered Ms. Davis a nod of agreement before handing the fish off to Mr. Vineyard, feeling a might silly offering him a first time handshake as he stood buck naked in the water.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A little while later, a clothed Bo wandered up to the camp and found Tommy showing off his prized fish to Uncle Jesse, who had come to give Bo a ride home as Luke had gone to Atlanta to pick up some supplies in the General.

"………..biggest fish anybody here has ever caught! I was afraid I'd lost it, but Bo found it still on a hook under that log and brought it up for me!" Tommy explained in excited breath.

Jesse looked up to his nephew and smiled in amusement. Bo's skin held a slightly orange tint from his swim. "Well I'm glad, for your sake, that you had enough sense to take off yer clothes first."

"I know, Uncle Jesse. I didn't wanna face Daisy's frying pan for the clothes but I can handle the skin for a couple of days."

**_Well that's not surprising. Bo always was partial to orange, ya know. _**

"Well now that yer all dried up, maybe you kin give Thomas here a proper greeting." Jesse suggested.

"Good to meet you, Thomas." Bo offered, shaking Mr. Vineyard's hand again. "I'm Bo Duke."

"Likewise Bo." Thomas Vineyard replied. "But you need no introduction. You're name comes up at least 12 times in each of my son's letters, usually with the word 'cool' or 'awesome' found close by."

Bo laughed. "You ain't tryin' to git me in trouble now, are ya Tommy?" He asked.

"No!" Tommy insisted. "I just tell Dad about all the cool things ya do. Like jumpin' the General and playin' baseball with me, and wrestlin' with my dog and takin' me fishin'……." He trailed off, slightly hanging his head in sadness all of a sudden.

"Hey Tommy, why the one-eighty?" His dad asked, lifting up his chin.

Tommy sighed. "I just wish I could do some of the things Bo does. Like goin' under the water today to git this fish. Dumb wheelchair."

As he looked sad, Bo looked to Thomas before turning to his young friend. "Uh Tommy, ain't nobody that can do everythang, wheelchair or not. Why Luke, he can't swim a lick….just kinda wades out in the water. And Daisy, she's practiced snappin' her fingers for years, just can't seem to git it right. And Uncle Jesse here….." Bo trailed off as he looked at Uncle Jesse, unable to think of anything he couldn't do.

"Well, I can't do a cartwheel." Jesse offered.

Tommy had to laugh at that one. "Why would you want to?" He had to ask.

"Well why would you want to go 'round lookin' orange like Bo there?" Jesse asked in return.

"Just knowin' I could." Tommy replied. "Don't know why I had to be born with my back all messed up."

"Well, ain't nobody born perfect either, Tommy." Jesse replied, trying to make him feel better. "Why I've had this ugly ole' mole on my neck almost from day one. And Bo there, he always had breathin' problems growin' up."

"You did?" Tommy asked in amazement.

"Sure did." Bo replied, patting him on the back.

"And my wife Lavinia and I, we had a son once. And that little baby, his two little toes was growed together on one of his feet."

"I didn't know you had a boy, Uncle Jesse." Tommy revealed in genuine amazement. "Where's he at now?"

"Um…" Jesse replied with downcast eyes. "He died soon as he's born. Up in heaven with his mamma now. But the point is Tommy, don't nobody come into the world perfect, or stay that way fer long if they do."

Although Tommy was better off, Bo could see that his it was now his uncle's turn to go thru a bout of sadness. The subject of his stillborn son was something that very rarely came up in conversation. Bo could only remember him mentioning it about 4 times in Bo's entire life. But he could see how Tommy's situation and Jesse's own fondness for the boy would reintroduce the subject.

"So…" Bo began, trying to change the subject. "How long you gonna be in Hazzard, Thomas?"

"Oh, long as I can." Thomas replied, snapping out of his own thoughts. "I lost my job in Calhoun and I come up here, hopin' to find somethin' closer to Tommy. You know of any jobs around here? Farmwork and such?"

"What kind a pay you lookin' fer?" Jesse asked.

"Nothin' but a roof over my head and a meal on the table." Thomas replied. "I don't want to get bogged down with the responsibilities of a payin' job just yet. Not while Tommy's outta school for the summer and I can spend some time with him."

"Uncle Jesse, we can always use extra help on the farm, can't we?" Bo asked, seeing Tommy's eyes lighten up at the thought of spending quality time with his dad.

"Sure can." Jesse replied. "But it'd only be fair fer me ta send ya somewhere else, Thomas. The meals we got, the room we ain't."

"If ya got a barn loft, ya got the room 'far as I'm concerned." Thomas replied. "'Course if ya ain't up to it, I'll look somewhere else. Don't wanna impose on nobody."

"Nonsense. If tha barn suits you, it suits me." He smiled, turning to Bo. "Now maybe that'll free up some time for you boys ta look into enterin' that race over in Hatchapee County."

"That would be great, Uncle Jesse!" Bo's eyes gleamed in excitement.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"If'n ya need anything, jist come in tha house. We don't bother ta lock up." Jesse told Thomas as he sat in the barn loft, preparing to settle in for the night.

"Thanks Jesse. See ya in the morning." Thomas replied.

"Goodnight." Jesse said, turning to walk out the barn door.

Thomas watched as Jesse's form turned into a shadow before disappearing from sight all together. Once he was gone, he sighed and opened his duffle bag.

Going through a tattered book, he took out a baby photo. The photo of an infant boy had seen better days. The black and white creased, torn image clearly revealed it's age.

Turning it over on the back, he read "Thomas, Tri-County Hospital, August 1948."

Swallowing, Thomas replaced the photo in the book. Grabbing up the blanket Jesse had left, he spread it out onto the hay.

Kicking off his shoes and socks, he stretched and yawned for the night, not being able to help but look at his foot………..as he flexed his two little fused toes.

**_Ya know, bein' thick skinned ain't usually a problem, till ya come to Hazzard County. _**


	2. Chapter 2

As Thomas stirred the next morning he felt a soft breeze blowing through the barn boards. He stretched and curled onto his side, extremely satisfied with his comfort and content to stay right where he was.

That comfort was made even better when he felt soft kisses on his arm. He wasn't yet awake enough to even comprehend where he was or who might be delivering those kisses, but it all seemed very nice and he wasn't in any hurry to return to full consciousness and spoil the moment with such a thing as reality.

That is, until one of those soft kisses was replaced by a rather firm bite.

"Ahh!" Thomas cried out, wide awake now as he swiftly sat up. Pushing away his sleeve, he began to nurse the bite as a startled goat jumped backward.

"Git down here Chester!" Luke exclaimed, having climbed the slanted loft ladder and swinging an arm through the air as he attempted to catch the wayward goat. Dodging his arm, Chester ran toward the end of the loft as the Duke boy chased him. Successfully dodging Luke again, Chester located a route of escape and quickly made his way back down the ladder.

Luke ran over to the ladder and watched as the goat joined the others in fighting the chickens for the feed that had been scattered on the ground for all of them. "Sorry about that." Luke apologized.. " Chester's only able to get up here when we put up that slanted ladder. Makes storin' the hay easier."

"I reckon I've been through worse." Thomas replied, wincing as he pushed his sleeve back down and noticed a few frayed sections courtesy of goat teeth.

"'Fraid we haven't met yet." Luke added, moving forward to shake Thomas' hand. "I'm Luke Duke. I was down in Atlanta yesterday and didn't get back 'till everybody was settled in."

"Thomas Vineyard." Thomas replied. "I'm Tommy's dad."

"Yeah I know." Luke smiled. "He's quite a kid. We've sort of adopted him, ya know. Heck, he's here so much you'd think this was his second home."

"He could do a lot worse far as homes are concerned." Thomas commented approvingly, breathing in the fresh country air as he observed the sun rising over the mountain, coaxing open wild pink and purple morning glories whose vines were wound around corn stalks throughout the field.

"Well we sure like it. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes if you want to come on down."

"Thanks Luke. Glad to have met you."

"Likewise." Luke replied, climbing back down the loft ladder before he ushered the goats back to their pen, allowing the chickens to pick at the leftover feed.

After a few more minutes of stretching Thomas put his shoes and socks back on and climbed down the loft ladder, brushing bits of straw from his shirt as he wound his way through the hungry chickens.

"Mornin' Thomas." Jesse sang out from his place at the kitchen table as his new farm hand entered the house. A chorus of greetings echoed his as the cousins offered their own.

"Mornin' everybody." Thomas replied, unable to keep from gazing at Jesse a little longer than would be expected.

"Did you sleep well Thomas?" Daisy asked, giving the handsome perfect stranger a gaze of her own as well as a winning smile. As Thomas returned the gesture, Luke elbowed Bo and nodded before the boys shared knowing grins.

"Like a baby, Miss Daisy." He replied, taking the remaining empty seat at the table. "I ought to bring Tommy up one night, bet he'd like that."

"Yeah, I bet he would." Daisy replied, never breaking her concentration.

Uncle Jesse then cleared his throat, signifying that the mealtime prayer was about to begin. It was enough to lull Daisy back to reality as everyone folded their hands and bowed their heads.

"Well now Thomas." Jesse began after the prayer was over and everybody began to help themselves. "What kind of plans do you and Tommy have for today?"

"None, I'm afraid." Thomas admitted. "When I talked to him yesterday he was quick to make it clear that even his old man wouldn't come between him and that birdhouse he was supposed to be makin' today."

"Oh yeah, the birdhouses." Bo remembered. "Do you know he was the one that actually got that project goin'? There's a couple of blue jays that seem to have taken to the tree outside his cabin window and he's convinced that if he builds 'em a house, they'll move in. The four of us here spent the whole weekend cuttin' up the wood for those kids."

"Ah." Thomas acknowledged him. "Oh, it's just as well anyway. Wouldn't feel right stayin' here and eatin' your food without doin' a little work."

"Well it wouldn't feel right for us to have you puttin' work ahead of your son either." Jesse said. "But seein' how you ain't, maybe you can be the one to help me clear that old maple tree that fell in the field durin' the last storm. That'll free up you boys to go on and see about gettin' signed up for that Hatchapee race."

"And today's the deadline." Bo grinned, happy to be signing up for a race they had thought would have to be missed due to the upcoming workload at the farm. Thanks to the arrival of Thomas, though, that burden had been eased.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a good day, at least for Thomas. Oh there had been plenty of work to do and none of it very easy, but the air could almost be considered cool and the company pleasant.

He and Jesse had shared a lot of small talk as they cleared that tree, their careless conversation interrupted occasionally when Jesse took it upon himself to scold Thomas for doing what the older man considered too much. More than once Jesse had picked up a heavy branch to throw in the back of his truck only to have Thomas promptly remove it from his arms and toss it in himself, commenting on how Jesse shouldn't be lifting such heavy objects. This was in addition to all the branches he himself was lifting and tossing.

With all that Thomas was doing Jesse almost felt useless being out there, yet he refused to put the responsibility of clearing a whole tree away on a lone farm hand, especially one who wasn't even accepting cash. Which is why after a day filled with the rather boring task of clearing away small limbs he was rather glad when Thomas, finding the trunk of the tree too thick for the chainsaw, requested Jesse's assistance with the crosscut saw.

Soon the two men stood on opposite sides of the tree, a foot firmly planted on the trunk as they pushed and pulled the saw like a perfectly synchronized team.

"Right now I'm kinda glad Tommy ain't here." Jesse commented between labored puffs of breath. "That boy of yours likes to try everything and gets plumb mad if he ain't able. I guarantee you he'd be sittin' there sulkin' right now 'bout not bein' able to try out this saw."

"I agree with you there." Thomas replied as they continued to saw. "Kid would fly if he could."

"Well…..Bo kinda fulfilled that wish for him." Jesse managed to grin even as he began to sweat. 'Course they's in the General Lee at the time."

"No explanation needed. I've read so much about the General Lee in Tommy's letters I feel like I know it inside and out." Thomas puffed out his cheeks. "I'm just glad that you all have took to him like ya have, makes life a lot more fun. Dang, but I wish that kid didn't have to be in a wheelchair."

"Well, I suppose it could all be worse." Jesse replied.

"Yeah…..we might not even have him." Thomas drifted off, realizing this was a perfect lead in for the conversation he wanted to have with Jesse. "Um, it must be hard for you, never getting a chance to know your boy."

Jesse shook his head in confusion. "I know my boys real good."

"I don't mean Bo and Luke. I meant the other boy. Your son."

"Oh." Jesse replied, slowing the saw as he drifted off into thought, but continuing to saw all the same.

"You said he………he died as soon as he was born."

Jesse gave a slight nod. "Don't know what was wrong with him exactly. We looked forward to 'im comin' all that time, doctor said everything seemed to be goin' well, then…." He trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. "Guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"Where was he buried?" Thomas asked, even as he imagined Jesse coming back with an abrupt declaration that it was none of his business.

"Up in the family plot close to his mamma." Jesse replied, instinctively looking in the direction of the family cemetery. "They took him straight there from the hospital just after he passed. Wadn't customary back in them days to grieve an infant, folks felt it'd make it harder on tha momma. So from birth here at the house to the time he's took to the hospital 'till the time he's put in the ground, he spent 8, 9 hours here on earth."

"So you didn't even get to hold him?"

"Just got to look over him quick after birthin' him." Jesse shook his head. "I knew somethin' was wrong soon as he's here. Wadn't much time for sentiments when he needed to be took to the hospital."

"So he was alive up until the time you got there?"

Jesse nodded his head. "I never saw him dead. Soon as they took him in……….."

Jesse abruptly stopped what he was saying and replaced the remainder of his thought with a painful groan as he let go of the saw. Abandoning his post, Thomas leapt over the trunk of the tree and saw blood on the blade of the saw, and oozing from Jesse's boot!

**_Between the saw and the memories, I can't decide which cut deeper. _**


	3. Chapter 3

After breakfast the boys had left the farm to sign up for the upcoming annual Hatchapee County race. It was considered the biggest race in north Georgia, practically a requirement for any of the locals who even hoped to hear his name in a future Nascar starting lineup. Now at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the paperwork had been filled out, the entry fee had been paid and the General had outshone the competition when the boys ,along with several others who had registered at the last minute, had decided to take their cars on a few laps around the North Georgia Speedway. To an outsider it would seem to have been a very good day for them, but the thoughtful frown Bo wore on his face and the obvious silence in the General as they made their way back home indicated that things weren't perfect.

"Bo, are you gonna sulk the rest of the day?" Luke finally asked, unable to take the quiet any longer.

"Well Luke I reckon I got a right to my feelin's don't I?" Bo shot back from the driver's seat.

"Yeah, well the only problem with it is you're makin' me depressed too." Luke replied, adjusting in his seat as he sighed. "Just try to think about something else, like the General himself. He sure looked good out there on the track today didn't he?"

That brought a smile to Bo's face. "He sure did. I'll bet them Hatchapee boys wadn't expectin' that."

"No they probably weren't." Luke replied. "But now they are, which means they'll be gettin' ready for us."

"And that means we'll have to get ready for the gettin' ready for us." Bo nodded thoughtfully.

"Good thing Thomas come along when he did." Luke replied. With him helpin' out that'll give us extra time to be gettin' ready for the gettin' ready."

Bo gave Luke a slightly confused look but otherwise smiled and shook his head. "The General looked REAL good out there today."

"That he did." Luke nodded.

Bo's grin then went right back to a frown. "Aw shoot Luke, that got me right back to thinkin' about what I was tryin' to forget about. Now I'm depressed again."

"Just get over it, Bo." Luke replied. "Ain't nothin' else to do."

_"This is Bo Peep callin' lost sheep, you boys got your ears on yet?" _

Luke reached down and picked up the handle. _"Lost sheep come back." _

_"Hey fellas." _Daisy replied. _"Listen, I don't want ya'll to panic or nothin', but Uncle Jesse's at the hospital." _

"What happened to him?" Luke asked as he and Bo looked at each other with obvious concern.

_"He and Thomas was clearin' that tree and he got into an accident with the saw. Cut his foot." _She replied.

"He gonna be alright?" Luke asked.

_"Well his biggest complaint is that he's gonna have to go out and buy a new pair of boots, if that tells you anything."_ Daisy laughed.

"He's gonna be alright." Luke and Bo both said at the same time as they looked at each other again. "Ten four Daisy." Luke continued with a chuckle. "We just crossed back over the county line so we'll be there in a few minutes."

_"I'll let Uncle Jesse know."_ Daisy replied, closing the exchange.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later the boys arrived in the emergency room at the Tri-County Hospital. After a few moments of inquiring and searching they were pointed in the direction of Jesse's temporary bed, and met Doc Appleby just as he was stepping out.

"Hey Doc." Luke greeted him. "I didn't know it was your day to be workin' at the hospital."

"That's because it isn't." The doctor replied. "I brought Emma over here. She had a wreck on that motorcycle of hers."

"Well that's terrible. She gonna be alright?" Bo asked, thinking of the elderly postmistress.

"Everything should heal 'cept for that stubborn streak." Doc Appleby laughed. "She come to my office wantin' me to look her over after the accident, and didn't take to kindly to the fact that I wanted to bring her here for some x-rays, just in case. I got a royal tongue lashing all the way over here, but after what we went through with you back in the winter during that blizzard, Luke, I just haven't feel comfortable taking chances with anyone else." He added. "'Course soon as she saw your Uncle Jesse, it seemed to calm her down a whole lot. I have to say it did wonders for Jesse as well. Soon as she started talkin' about them getting a hospital room together, he got real anxious to get back home."

The trio chuckled before Luke asked. "So Jesse's gonna be alright?"

"He had to have some stitches and he's going be getting real familiar with a pair of crutches over the next two weeks, but it isn't anything that should lay him up for long. He's ready to go now, just waiting on his discharge papers."

"Well we sure appreciate it doc." Bo announced.

"Anytime boys." Doc Appleby replied, patting Bo on the shoulder before he made his way down the hall.

The boys then made there way into the area where Jesse had been treated, finding Thomas and Daisy keeping him company.

"Hey Uncle Jesse." Luke smiled, giving his uncle a hug. "How are you feelin' now?"

After Bo had his turn with a hug, Jesse put his hand up beside his mouth, whispering, "I'll feel a whole lot better when I get out of here." He whispered, subtly moving his eyes and nodding his head toward the left.

The boys looked over in the direction he had indicated, to see a smiling Miz Tizdale looking back at them.

"Hey Miz Tizdale how you doin'?" Luke asked.

"Oh I'm always doing fine as long as I'm in the company of your sweet Uncle Jesse." Miz Tizdale replied with a slight giggle.

Giving her acknowledging grins, they turned back to their uncle with amused ones.

"Boys I'm real sorry about this. I got your uncle to talkin' and away from concentraitin' on his own safety." Thomas admitted.

"It wadn't your fault." Jesse replied. "You didn't put my foot under that saw."

"Course not." Daisy shook her head. "It was an accident. They happen on farms all the time. None of us take a vow of silence durin' chores."

"That's right." Luke replied. "So don't feel bad. Doc says Jesse 'ill mend up in no time."

Thomas seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Thanks everybody. I felt real bad about it."

"Ain't nothin' to thank us for." Bo replied. "And even if there was, the best way you could thank us for anything is by spending as much time as you can with that freckle-faced kid we all love."

Thomas thought a minute before his eyes lit up. "Speaking of Tommy, I need to call the camp. I was supposed to have supper over there with him tonight and I need to let him know I'm not gonna make it."

"You'll do no such thing." Jesse replied. "We got all three of our vehicles here and supper don't start 'till 5. Now….." He paused, fishing his truck keys out of his pocket. "You take this key and you take my pickup truck and you go on over there and eat with 'im. You even got enough time to swing by the house and clean up, if ya wanna."

"Are you sure?" Thomas asked.

"Sure I'm sure." Jesse replied. "You go on now."

"Thanks Jesse. Thanks everybody." Thomas replied, looking at all the Dukes and receiving nods and 'you're welcomes' before he left the room.

Once he let the curtains fall together behind him, Thomas paused to peek. Satisfied that everyone was going to stay right where they were for the time being, he made his way back to the emergency room entrance, looking around. Finally spying a hospital directory, he studied the interior map for a few moments before pointing out a location and looking for the nearest elevator that would take him to the second floor.

A few minutes later after the elevator ride and a trip down several hospital corridors, Thomas found himself standing at the nursery window, smiling as he looked at 3 sleeping newborns who's eyebrows seemed furrowed in frustration as a fourth baby wailed, threatening to interrupt their naps.

"Are you one of the fathers?"

Thomas looked beside him and saw an elderly nurse standing there smiling at him. Playing off of that contagious smile, he offered one of his own. "No ma'am I'm not."

"Oh." She frowned in confusion. "Kinda unusual to see men pause at the window unless they're one of the new fathers. Not that there's anything wrong with it, mind you."

"I've stood here before as a father. Maybe again some day." Thomas smiled. "You work here in the nursery?"

"Yes I do." She nodded.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"I know it was a long time ago." Thomas continued. "But is there any chance that somebody would still be workin' here at the hospital that would have been employed back in the late forties?"

The nurse only thought for a moment. "Honey, there's only one person working here that's been around that long."

"Well who is it?" Thomas asked.

"That would be me." She replied with a smile.

**_If you live in Hazzard and your last name ain't already Duke, does tryin' to find out if it should be make you a glutton for punishment? _**


	4. Chapter 4

"Is there somewhere we can go and talk? In private?" Thomas asked the nurse.

"Uh, sure." The nurse replied, nodding toward a door with a simple sign on it that read 'Staff'. "That's our break room. Go on and wait for me in there and I'll be along soon as I tend to the Martin baby."

Thomas followed instruction and went through the door, finding an area that held no room for anything other than the small dining set, the soda machine, and the time clock that it already contained. Seeing no more than four cards next to the time clock told Thomas that this was not a popular area and the chances of being interrupted were slim.

A few minutes later the nurse entered the room and sat down next to Thomas. "Whatever you have to talk to me about sounds quite serious, young man." She commented, even as Thomas looked at the tag on her shirt and learned that her name was Shirley.

"I know this is a crazy question to ask…." Thomas admitted, getting right to the point. "……..but what are the chances that you might remember an incident that happened here back in 1947?"

"1947? Oh my that was….what…..35 years ago?" Shirley replied, scratching her head. "These days I'm lucky to remember at noon what I had for breakfast."

"I know it might be difficult." Thomas pressed. "But it has to do with the death of an infant back then. I'm hopin' you can tell me that it happens infrequently enough that you can just about recall all of them."

"Of course I can recall the incidents, but surely you can't expect me to remember specific years." Shirley pointed out. She then brightened in realization and put a hand on Thomas's arm. "Wait a minute, you said '47, right?"

Thomas nodded his head, perking up in interest at seeing her sudden excitement.

"That was the year I started working here." She recalled, going back in time in her own mind. "I was working under Dr. Shepard at the time, what a good man. I don't think Tri-County ever has or ever will see a more dedicated doctor."

"Do you recall any infant deaths that year?"

Shirley thought a few moments before she shook her head. "No not that year. I didn't see an infant pass 'till I'd been here over a year. That would have put it past '47."

Thomas swallowed as he took in the news. "Are you absolutely certain?"

"Oh very certain. Like I said, I worked with Dr. Wilson, and he was the only physician on staff at the time dedicated to delivering and caring for infants. If there had been a complication with a baby, I would have known about it."

Thomas nodded his head. "What about hospital paperwork? Does Tri-County have all that stuff from back then still on file somewhere?"

"No." Shirley shook her head. "Unfortunately it was all lost in the big hospital fire back in '54."

"Oh." Thomas replied, disappointed. "Well what about this Dr. Shepard? Is there any way you can tell me where he lives? I'd like to go out and talk to him."

Shirley smiled sadly. "I'm afraid the closest you are going to be able to get to Dr. Shepard anymore is by looking at that bust over there." She replied, nodding toward a marble likeness of the doctor in the waiting area, a copper colored plaque bolted onto the pedestal that supported it. "He passed some 10 years ago."

Feeling that he had arrived at a dead end, Thomas thanked Shirley, who showed her kindness by providing him with a phone number where she could be reached if he had any more questions. This despite the fact that she still had no clue as to what all the inquiries were about, but was polite enough not to ask.

As Shirley went back to her business Thomas made his exit from the nursery, pausing long enough to look at the bust of Dr. Shepard. Resigning himself to unanswered questions, he decided to read a little about the man whom he would never be able to question, but desperately wanted too.

_Doctor Gregory Shepard _

_1907-1974 _

_Dr. Shepard was one of the founders of what is today known as the Tri-County Hospital. He was specifically responsible for the establishment of the modern day maternal and infant care center, the first of its kind in this area of Georgia. During his tenure, Dr. Shepard delivered some 4000 infants and oversaw the operation of the infant care center, supervising the treatment and care of all patients admitted during a course of thirty years, from 1935 to 1965. In addition he made a great contribution to society, overseeing the adoption of almost 150 infants, relieving overcrowding at area orphanages and burden on taxpayers coins. Dr. Shepard is fondly remembered by the Tri-County Hospital staff. _

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Luke, git out there and see what's keeping' Thomas." Jesse said the next morning as the family surrounded the kitchen table, watching the food grow cold before their eyes.

"That's okay, Luke. I'll go." Daisy replied, jumping up before her cousin had the chance to argue. Pausing long enough to smooth hair that appeared wayward in the reflection of the chrome colored toaster, she opened the door and reddened slightly when she realized her family was watching her, realizing that they knew all to well what was going on.

"I do believe Daisy has the sweets on our farm hand." Luke commented with a grin before he sipped his milk.

"That she does, though I can't figure out if it's because she actually finds him attractive or if it's because of the fact that he's given no indication that he shows any special feelin's for her." Jesse replied, patting Bo's hand that rested on the table. "Don't suppose anybody in this room would know about the thrill of the chase, would they?" He asked jokingly, knowing that Bo had been known to pursue more than one girl that had displayed no immediate interest in him.

However, Bo still wasn't in much of a joking mood, and offered no more than a slight grin in response to his Uncle's good-natured teasing.

"You've been awful solemn since yesterday afternoon. You gonna tell me what's on yer mind or are ya gonna wait till my last three black hairs turn gray?" Jesse asked.

"Everything's fine." Bo simply replied. "Just thinkin' about what all has to be done around here today."

"Well best as I can recall most everything's took care of 'cept for gettin' the rest of the hay up in the loft and pickin' a new batch of corn. 'Course the corn's gonna take up most of the day but it shouldn't be anything that requires the amount of thinkin' you seem to be doin'."

"Mornin' everybody." Thomas said as he opened the door and moved to the side, allowing Daisy to enter first. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

"It's alright Thomas. Jist git in here and sit down so's we can git started."

After Thomas and Daisy had taken their places at the table, they all bowed their heads for the mealtime prayer just before the plates were passed around.

"Sorry to have disturbed yer sleep Thomas, but we hated to eat without you." Jesse commented.

"Oh I wasn't sleeping, I was picking corn." Thomas replied.

"Pickin' corn? Already?" Jesse asked.

"Didn't get much sleep last night. Got started on it soon as it was light out." Thomas replied, nodding toward the kitchen window.

Luke got up and moved the curtain aside in order to get a look at what Thomas was nodding about. There sat Jesse's pickup truck, fully weighed down with a load of corn.

"Why….." Luke trailed off, amazed by what he saw. "You've got the truck full as it can be. You must be a super picker or somethin'."

"Well I actually started on it last night." Thomas confessed. "There was still about an hours worth of light left when I announced I's turnin' in."

"That's good Thomas." Jesse smiled, pleased with the work. "That should cover what Lewis wanted to buy from us to sell over at the Cleveland Farmer's Market. That means all that's left for you boys to do today is ta finish stackin' that hay in the loft."

"Actually, I've already started on that too." Thomas admitted.

As the family looked at him in amazement, he continued. "Well like I said, I didn't sleep too much last night. It shouldn't take me too long to finish it up, if ya'll had anything else you needed to do, Bo 'nd Luke."

"Well how about that?" Jesse grinned. "Looks like you boys got yourselves some time freed up to work on winnin' that Hatchapee County race. That oughta make you happy, Bo."

"Uh, yeah that's great." Bo said, forcing a small smile.

As the group fell into silence to eat, Jesse noticed that a lot more of Bo and Thomas's servings were being pushed around on their plates rather than going in their mouths. By the time the meal was over, it was safe to say neither had eaten very much.

Soon Daisy was on her way to the Boar's Nest while Bo and Luke made their way out to the garage, intent on asking Cooter to give the General a thorough inspection.

"I'm gonna go finish stacking that hay, Mr. Duke." Thomas announced as soon as the others had left.

"Jist hang on a minute." Jesse replied, following Thomas as he hopped to the back porch with his crutches. "I wanna talk to you. Sit down over there." He added, lifting one crutch and using it to point to the white weathered porch swing.

Reluctantly, Thomas took the place on the swing that Jesse had indicated, wondering what he wanted. After a few more hops, Jesse turned to sit in the swing himself, Thomas taking the crutches and assisting him.

"Thank ya." Jesse replied as soon as he was comfortably seated.

"There somethin' wrong with the work I'm doin'?" Thomas asked.

"Oh no no, nothin' like that. Your work is…………well it's excellent." Jesse admitted in thought. "We're gonna hafta see about gettin' you a little pay fer it."

"I told you back at the beginning that I'm working for meals, and that's all the pay I intend to receive." Thomas argued.

"Well I appreciate it, but that ain't what I wanted to talk to you about." Jesse replied. "Now Bo's been actin' all strange since yesterday afternoon and you, well, you ain't actin' much better. Ya been up all night workin' and neither one of ya eat enough this mornin' ta feed a bird. I's just wonderin' if ya'll got in some sort of spat I don't know about."

"Oh no sir." Thomas shook his head. "I'm not sure what's wrong with Bo, but I assure you our problems don't have anything to do with each other."

"Well since you don't know what his problem is, perhaps you can tell me what yours is about." Jesse suggested.

"I don't think that's a very good idea." Thomas replied, shaking his head before he put it down.

"Listen here boy." Jesse replied, placing a hand on the back of his neck. "I know you're jist with us temporary and all that, but as long as yer restin' your head on Duke property you're an honorary member of the family. And despite how my nephew's been actin', in our family we generally share our problems with each other so's we can all work together to sort things out. So whatever it is, I wanna help ya, 'specially if it has anything to do with Tommy."

"I….I don't wanna……" Thomas began. He then heaved a sigh and looked at Jesse. "You're a kind man Mr. Duke. I don't wanna mess things up for you."

Jesse shook his head. "There ain't no way you can mess nothin' up for me, not by tellin' me your problems."

"I beg to differ." Thomas replied.

"Well why don't ya jist tell me then and let me decide that for myself 'fore I worry myself into a tizzy thinkin' somthin's wrong with Tommy."

Thomas nodded and swallowed. "Okay. Since you asked, it does have somethin' to do with Tommy."

"Well what is it?" Jesse asked with concern.

Thomas shook his head again. "I just don't know how you'd feel. Maybe it would be better if we waited till Bo, Luke, or Daisy got back so's they could sit with you."

"I'm gonna keel over from an anxiety attack 'fore they get back if you don't tell me what's goin' on!" Jesse insisted. "Now what is it? What's wrong with Tommy?"

"Nothing's wrong with him sir." Thomas replied, reaching down to unlace a shoe before he removed it along with the sock he was wearing. Moving his foot forward, he showed Jesse the foot with two fused toes.

"I was just wondering how you would feel if I told you there's a possibility Tommy might be your grandson."

_**If I didn't know Jesse any better, I'd feel like we just might see that anxiety attack anyway.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Jesse simply stared at Thomas' foot, his slightly opened mouth contributing to the expression of shock he wore on his face.

"Oh no, I should have waited for Bo or Luke or Daisy to be here before I sprung it on ya like that." Thomas said, replacing his sock and boot. As soon as he was finished, he turned and bolted from the back porch.

The sudden movement was enough to end Jesse's short bout of speechlessness. "Thomas!" He yelled out, futilely attempting to rise from the porch swing. "Thomas!"

He continued to struggle only a few more moments when a hand caught his arm. "Careful now. Let me help you."

Jesse looked up and saw that it was Thomas who was assisting him. "I thought you had done run off on me."

"Guess I should have explained myself. I was just goin' after this." Thomas explained, holding up the tattered book he kept in his duffle bag. "I'll explain what I understand so far, that is, if you wanna hear it. I understand perfectly if you'd rather I leave and never show my face around here again."

"Are you kiddin'? After what you jist said and what I saw, that's 'bout the last thing I'd want you to do. Now sit me back down here and let's have a look at what you got to show me." Jesse instructed as Thomas helped him back into a sitting position.

Once Jesse was settled, Thomas opened the tattered book. Taking out the worn baby photo, he handed it to Jesse. "I'm sorry I can't offer you anything better, but that's the only picture I have of myself from back then."

Jesse studied the picture before he turned it over on the back. "Well, sorry as I am to say it, here's our first discrepancy. Our little 'n was born in July. This here picture is dated for August."

"But there's somethin' you don't know." Thomas continued. "Well, I suppose I should start with a little confession. I didn't leave the hospital soon as I stepped out of your room yesterday. I decided to pay a visit to the nursery and ask some questions."

"You mean you been burdened with this since yesterday and you didn't bother to tell me about it?" Jesse asked.

"I'm sorry Mr. Duke, but I didn't want to say anything until I had at least a couple of facts to go along with my theory." He replied, not bothering to point out that he was actually in his third day of trying to sort things out.

"And I take it that since you're talkin' to me now, that little visit to the nursery must have confirmed your suspicions."

"Well I wouldn't say 'confirmed'. 'Supported' might be a better a more appropriate word."

"Well let's hear about it." Jesse insisted.

"I spoke to a nurse that worked there, Shirley." Thomas began. "Seems she was just startin' out at the hospital the same year I was born. Durin' our talk I was askin' her about infant deaths there at the Tri-County hospital. Mr. Duke, she said that she remembered 1947 well because it was her first one on the job, and she guaranteed me……_guaranteed_……that Tri-County Hospital saw no infant deaths that year."

Jesse thought on it a minute. "Guaranteed?" He asked.

"Yes sir." Thomas replied.

"Well……." Jesse shook his head. "Why would they lie to me about my youngin' passin'?"

"I have my suspicions." Thomas continued. "It seems that there was only one doctor on staff at the time that oversaw infant delivery and care. A doctor Gregory Shepard."

"Shepard….." Jesse trailed off as he thought back. "Name sounds familiar. Rachel gave birth to Daisy in the hospital, seems he mighta been the one ta deliver her."

"It turns out I found out a rather interesting fact about Dr. Shepard while I was there." Thomas continued. "There was a plaque on display at the hospital stating that he had overseen more than a hundred infant adoptions during his tenure."

Jesse absorbed the facts for a few minutes before he turned back to Thomas. "Are you tellin' me that you suspect this Dr. Shepard coulda give my boy away for adoption on accident, like a mix up or something?"

"I'm thinking that may very well be what happened……or maybe it wasn't so accidental." Thomas admitted. "My mother never made a secret of the fact that I was adopted, or how desperately she had wanted a child before I came in her life. Now just suppose mom had approached this doctor about getting a baby for her, and there wasn't any available at the time." Thomas continued. "Now I don't know anything about this Doctor Shepard, or even if my parents would have been so desperate for a child that they paid him to find one for them. But supposin' that was all true, who's to say that when your boy come in sick, that doctor didn't have him declared dead just so he could arrange the adoption?"

As Jesse took it in, Thomas pointed to his baby picture that was still in Jesse's hand. "This ain't a good picture, but it says it was taken at the Tri-County hospital and I don't exactly look like a newborn infant. Suppose it's all true, and I am your boy, and this was taken after I got well and was about to go home with my new family?"

"That's a lot of supposin'." Jesse had to admit. "But I know from a fact that askin' yer folks about it is out of the question, as Tommy told me they passed quite a few years ago."

"That they did." Thomas confirmed.

After that, the two men sat in silence on the swing quite some time, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Jesse spoke up. "I got a confession to make."

"What is it, Mr. Duke?"

"Goes back to the first time I saw ya a couple a days ago." Jesse replied, turning to look at Thomas with the hint of a tear in his eyes. "I know I didn't say nothin' at the time, but soon as I laid eyes on ya, I thought 'If I didn't know no better, I'd swear that was my brother Rob walkin' by'. Ya look just like he did back when he woulda been your age."

"What do you mean?" Thomas asked.

"I mean that the chances of two babies endin' up in the exact same hospital with the exact same physical birth defect no more than a month apart don't seem very likely."

"Mr. Duke." Thomas pressed, laying a hand on his arm. "What are you trying to say?"

"I guess what I'm tryin' to say…" Jesse replied with a sigh. "Is that all things considered, I think it's about time you quit callin' me Mr. Duke and started callin' me Pa."

And with a laugh and a few tears, the two men began a hug that didn't end for two solid minutes.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Come again?" Luke asked, as he, Daisy and Bo sat on the couch later that evening, wearing expressions of shock that very much resembled the one Jesse had worn much earlier in the day.

"Now Luke, I know you. I know them wheels are turnin' in your head. Just hear the boy out he's got his reasons for thinkin' that way." Jesse requested from his easy chair just as Luke opened his mouth to speak again.

As Tommy sat in his wheelchair firmly grasping Jesse's hand Thomas, for the second time that day, began sharing his theory on why he though he was Jesse's son. By the time the story had been told, the picture had been shown, and Thomas had even gone so far as to bring his toes into evidence, at least one boy in the room was extremely happy.

"Ain't it cool Bo?" Tommy asked from his wheelchair. "Now I don't hafta pretend you're my cousin anymore. You really are! Ain't that right grandpa?"

"You're exactly right,Tommy." A jovial Jesse replied, patting his hand.

As Bo arched his eyebrows at hearing the word 'grandpa' and opened his mouth to speak, Luke quickly squeezed his shoulder before he got the chance. "Well how about that?" Luke then asked, rising from the couch before he pulled Thomas in a hug. "Welcome to the family Thomas!"

As Thomas hugged Luke, Bo and Daisy simply looked at one another before they went back to observing both the hug and the way Jesse was fawning over Tommy.

"Tell you what, this calls for a celebration dinner." Luke continued, going over to ruffle Tommy's hair. "How 'bout we go a little topsy turvey today and make egg omelets for supper?"

"Sounds fine." Tommy grinned.

"We're about out of eggs though. C'mon Bo, let's go raid the chicken coop." Luke said before he opened the door and stepped outside. Bo rose and halfheartedly returned the hug that Thomas gave him before he gave Tommy a wink and followed his cousin outside.

Bo then went through the barn and over to the chicken coop where Luke was waiting for him.

"Nice goin' in there Luke." Bo argued. "Some man done come offa the street tellin' Jesse that he's his dead-and-buried child and what do you do? Give him a big 'welcome home'."

"Well he ain't just off of the street he's Tommy's dad, which means we're gonna hafta be real careful about how we handle this."

"So you ain't convinced he's who he thinks he is after all?" Bo asked.

"Of course not. But I had to stop you in there before you gave him a piece of your mind."

"Why?"

"Because, all you gotta do is look at Jesse and Tommy to see the excitement in their eyes. As a matter of fact, I ain't seen Jesse this happy since……..well, I don't know if I've ever seen him this happy." Luke admitted. "And if we're gonna go bustin' his bubble we better darn well make sure we're using a pin sharpened to a point with facts."

"So I ain't by myself on this? We're gonna look into this together?"

"Darn right we are." Luke replied. "But it can wait 'till tomorrow. For now let's just go along with things and let Jesse enjoy his evening with his new 'family'. Might turn out to be the only one he has."

**_I tell you what, if them boys turn up somethin' that says Thomas ain't Jesse's, I sure wouldn't wanna hafta be the one to explain it to little Tommy. _**

****

****


	6. Chapter 6

Around ten o'clock the next morning, the chores were done once again thanks to Thomas's early start. With a promise to return in time for supper, the boys offered some excuse related to the Hatchapee race to explain their day long absence. With a wave to Jesse they left the farm and drove toward town, intent on seeking the truth about Thomas's past for themselves.

Considering that Thomas's adoptive parents had passed and all of the old hospital records had been destroyed, Bo wasn't quite sure where they should begin. But when he looked over in the driver's seat and noticed the thoughtful expression on Luke's face, he knew that his older cousin had already been hard at work with a plan.

"So where we goin', Luke?" Bo asked.

"The library." Luke replied. That's where they keep all of the old newspapers from the Hazzard Gazette."

"Well what do you think we're gonna find there?"

"I don't know, maybe nothing, maybe a lot." Luke replied. "If we at least come across a birth announcement with a decent picture of Thomas that would be more than we got now."

"But what good do you think a picture would do? Jesse's baby was born into an emergency situation. It's not like he had time to sit around and gaze at him."

"A lot of things can be forgot in this life, Bo, but ask any parent if they can recall how their young'in looked when they first laid eyes on him and chances are they're gonna say yes."

"Yeah, but if what Thomas says is true and that picture is a month old? Babies can change a lot in a month, can't they?"

Luke groaned in frustration. "You got any better ideas, Bo?"

"Well…..no."

"Then let's stop arguing and just go on over there. We sure ain't gonna end up any worse off than we are right now."

"Alright." Bo replied, holding his hands up in defeat.

The rest of the trip remained silent as they drove toward the library, a small, freestanding block building just off of Hazzard Square. Unfortunately for the citizens of Hazzard, the state sent funds for the operating costs directly to Boss Hogg's office. And Boss, seeing little need to waste taxpayers' money with the full time operation of a seldom-used non- profit establishment, limited operating hours to Thursdays when the buses from the orphanage and from the Frothy camp arrived for their weekly visit. At all other times visitors arrived to find a note pinned to the door saying that if, and only if, she should be available, they were to go to the post office and request that Miz Tizdale open up for them.

Because the placement of that note was common knowledge, the first stop in town for the boys was the post office.

"Mornin' Miz Tizdale." The boys sang out in chorus upon entering the post office. Without waiting for instruction, Luke immediately went over and pulled the number 1 card from the stack.

"Number 1." Miz Tizdale announced, having noticed the card being taken.

"Right here." Luke grinned in amusement, placing the card on the counter. "Glad to see you come through that motorcycle accident just fine."

"Of course I did." She announced in a way that said no one should expect anything less.

"But listen boys, I ain't got time to chit chat, what can I do for you today?"

"That's alright Miz Tizdale." Bo replied. "We just wanted to get the key for the library from you."

"The library?" Miz Tizdale asked. "I can't do that. The library is a public building, and I can't just give you the key. There has to be an attendant."

"Well isn't that who you are?" Luke asked.

"I am. But I can't go over there right now. As you can see, I'm just plumb covered up in here today."

Bo and Luke looked around at the empty office that held no other customers before looking at each other in confusion. "Uh, when do you think things might let up?" Luke asked, turning back to the postmistress.

"Probably won't be today boys. The main office in Atlanta sent out notices yesterday sayin' they wanted a complete inventory list from everybody mailed back first thing tomorrow mornin'. So I'm gonna be busy busy busy."

"We understand that Miz Tizdale. But if you would let us have the key and go over there, just for a little while, we promise we'll be careful."

"I'm sorry boys, but like I said, I can't just hand out the key. Regulation."

The boys could tell by the determined look on her face and the cementing word 'regulation' that her mind was made up. Suddenly, Luke brightened with an idea. "Uh, that's okay Miz Tizdale." He said, turning to his cousin. "C'mon Bo, we'll just hafta tell Uncle Jesse he's lookin' at Thursday before he'll get them poetry books."

"Wait a minute." Miz Tizdale stopped the boys as they made their way out, as Luke knew she would at hearing Jesse's name. "What's this about Jesse and poetry books?"

"Oh." Luke replied. "Well, I don't know if Jesse would want me to say nothin'. He probably wouldn't, would he Bo?"

"Oh uh, gosh, probably not." Bo replied, his grin as he looked at Luke barely masking his confusion.

"Oh you can tell me. I swear it won't get past this room." Miz Tizdale pleaded with an excited grin.

"Well….." Luke grinned as if he were reluctant to share a secret. "Don't spread it around or nothing, but Uncle Jesse………..he's takin' to writing love poems."

"Love poems?" Miz Tizdale asked with a dreamy sigh.

"Yeah. Seems he's got his eye on some lady." Luke continued. "He won't say who it is, but he did tell us she works here in town. Seems she's always invitin' him to her place for dinner, filling his ear with sweet nothin's…….."

"And wears the prettiest flowered dresses." Bo added, catching on quickly as he noticed Miz Tizdale's dress.

"Oh but never mind, you're busy and me and Bo, well, we gotta get home and tell him he'll have to wait on his books and…………."

"Now hang on just a minute." Miz Tizdale interrupted, hurriedly opening a drawer and taking the library key out. "I suppose inventory can wait just a few more minutes. Now you boys hurry along with me and we'll get over there and get that sweet Uncle Jesse of yours those books."

Bo and Luke simply looked at each other and grinned as Miz Tizdale hurried around them and out the front door.

"Okay what kind of poetry books do you think he would want?" She asked, after they had arrived at the library and the door had been unlocked.

"Oh, I don't think we'd be good at picking any out. Why don't you do it for us?" Bo asked.

"Oh I'd be glad to." Miz Tizdale giggled as she headed off into the poetry section.

"Hey if you don't mind me and Bo's gonna get a little nostalgic and look at some old newspapers while you're doin' that." Luke said.

"Sure Luke, they're in the room behind the desk." Miz Tizdale replied.

After they had entered the room, it didn't take long to spot the rows of big binders that lined the back wall. Locating the 1947 archive, they pulled it from the shelf and opened it up on the front counter.

Finding nothing for the month of July other that an obituary for 'Infant Duke', they quickly turned to August and located something of interest.

"Hey Bo, look at this." Luke said, pointing to a headline. _'Doctor G. Shepard Arranges Two More Adoptions' _

Following a photo of the doctor surrounded by two couples, the mothers gazing lovingly at their new children who were wrapped in blankets, was an article announcing the 50th and 51st adoptions arranged by the locally famed doctor. The writer made brief mention of the names of the new parents but mostly concentrated on the doctor and his contributions to the hospital and society in general.

"Well at least we know Thomas's parents were named Eugene and Dotty." Bo offered.

"Yeah. Only problem is they've passed on, so we're right back to square one." Luke sighed. "We don't even get a good picture of Thomas. He's so wound up in that blanket you can't even see his face."

"Here you go boys. I think these books will do your Uncle Jesse just fine." Miz Tizdale announced, walking up and dropping a stack of books next to the newspapers.

"Miz Tizdale, any chance you know who these people are?" Luke asked, pointing to the picture at the other couple next to the doctor, hoping they might offer some insight.

"Why I sure do. That's Frances and Margaret Peterson. I believe your Uncle Jesse knows Margaret. Seems like they might've graduated together."

"Hmm. I don't think Jesse's ever mentioned a Margaret Peterson before." Bo mused.

"Well he might'ave referred to her as Margaret Appleby. That was her name back before she married."

"Appleby?" Luke asked. "Any relation to Doc Appleby?"

"Why sure that's his sister." Miz Tizdale replied.

Now Bo and Luke knew who to talk to next. "Thanks a lot Miz Tizdale!" They called out, walking quickly to the door.

"Wait a minute. Don't you want these poetry books?" She asked.

"Oh…yeah." Luke replied, rushing back in and pulling out his seldom used library card.

Once Miz Tizdale had finished stamping them, she handed them back to Luke. "Now you tell Jesse to get these back by the due date, hear? I take overdue books very seriously. I come to collect them personally." She giggled, winking at Luke.

"I'll keep that in mind." Luke replied, offering one more amused grin as he exited the library.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the boys got in touch with Doc Appleby, he quickly informed them that his knowledge of Dr. Shepard's adoptions was limited and that everything certainly seemed legitimate as far as his own nephew's adoption had gone. However he was quite familiar with Shirley, the nurse Thomas had spoke to. He had known her for many years and considered her one of the most knowledgeable employees of the hospital staff. Suggesting that a talk with her would be the best route they could take in their seach for answers, he had agreed to join the boys when they went to meet with her.

"You say late '48, Shirley?" Doc Appleby asked.

"Same as I told the young man who was in here a couple of days ago, doctor." Shirley replied as she, Doc Appleby, Bo and Luke sat around the same break room table she had sat at with Thomas earlier in the week. "It was well over a year after I had started working here that I saw an infant die. He was premature. Poor little thing didn't weigh more than two pounds."

"Well that sure wasn't the problem with Jesse's baby." Luke mused.

"Thank you Shirley, we know you're busy and we'll be on our way now." Doc Appleby announced before he and the boys excused themselves.

"Well there you have it." Doc Appleby said after they had exited the nursery. "I know you boys would have liked to have heard something more, but Shirley has always been a very sharp-minded individual. If she says there were no infant deaths her first year here, then I believe her."

"But she didn't remember Jesse's baby being sick either." Bo added, a point he remembered from an earlier part of their conversation.

"Bo, the death of a baby is easy to remember. Remembering all the sick babies……. impossible. We are in a place that specializes in the care of the sick, you realize."

As Bo smirked, the doctor patted him on the shoulder. "I've gotta get going boys. I hope talking to Shirley at least helped."

"It did Doc. Thanks for arranging it." Luke replied as the doctor made his way down the hall.

After Doc Appleby disappeared Luke simply stood with his hands in his pocket, deep in thought for a while.

"Well Luke, what can we do now?" Bo asked after he could no longer stand the silence.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "When you take everything into account, there's only one thing left to do."

"What's that?"

Heaving a sigh, Luke replied. "Go home and say hello to our new cousin."

**_Guess that's gonna mess things up for Daisy's love life, ain't it? _**


	7. Chapter 7

"Give it a little more, Bo." Cooter said as he stood in front of the General with the hood opened.

As Bo revved the engine, the sound blended in with the dozen or so other cars that were going through final adjustments in preparation of the Hatchapee County race.

As the sound of the engine's power built up and faded away, Cooter listened intently as he made adjustments with his wrench, correcting discrepancies which resulted in a slightly different sound that only a trained mechanic could distinguish.

"I think that's got it." Cooter said with a big grin, slamming the hood closed and walking toward the driver's side where Luke leaned against the General. "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you two won the race today."

"Not that it really matters." Bo smirked from the driver's seat.

"Well I don't know about you but I know it would matter to me if I thought there was a chance I could be takin' home that thousand dollar first prize!"

"Aw don't pay any attention to him Cooter. He's been this way ever since he found out that Alan Tucker's supposed to be here today."

"Alan Tucker?" Cooter let out a low whistle. "If this Alan Tucker you're talkin' about is the same Alan Tucker that's out lookin' for a new driver to represent Benchfield Auto Parts, I could think of a whole lotta worse things to be sour about."

Further conversation was interrupted when the impending beginning of the race was announced over the loudspeakers. "Guess that's my cue to go. Good luck, ya'll. I'm gonna go see if I can squeeze in somewhere around Uncle Jesse."

"Thanks for everything, Crazy C!" Luke called out as Cooter jogged away.

As soon as Cooter had left, Luke put on his helmet and adjusted the orange racing uniform that matched Bo's. Satisfied with both his safety and comfort, he climbed into the passenger's seat next to his cousin before Bo steered to the starting position.

"There's Uncle Jesse!" Luke exclaimed, pointing into the stands after he had caught sight of Cooter again, watching as he took a seat. Bo looked in the direction in which Luke was pointing and recognized Jesse's trusty red cap.

"Looks like he's got plenty of company." Bo said with a smirk when he noticed Thomas seated next to Jesse, along with Daisy, Tommy and Cooter. When he noticed that Bo was looking in their direction, Thomas stood up and took off the hat he was wearing, waving it in the air in a friendly greeting. Bo pasted an insincere smile on his face and returned the wave for the sake of his uncle.

"Gee Bo you think maybe you can turn down your enthusiasm?" Luke asked.

Bo sighed. "I'm sorry Luke. It's just that….well what am I looking for an excuse for? You already know how I feel about havin' Thomas around."

"Aw c'mon, give the guy a break. You know as well as I do that we wouldn't be anywhere near as prepared for this race as we are if it hadn't have been for him takin' over almost all of our work on the farm."

"Well I know, and to be honest I really don't mind that part." Bo revealed, managing a chuckle. "But he's doin' an awfully good job of takin' over Uncle Jesse too."

"It does seem that way." Luke confirmed. "But it's not like he's replacing us or anything. The best way to look at it is to compare it to..." Luke thought a minute before snapping his fingers. "It's like when Great Aunt Minnie came and stayed with us back when her house was bein' remodeled up in Tennessee. You remember how Uncle Jesse was. At first they's doin' everything together, talkin' all the time, goin' everywhere together…..then after awhile things settled down and they both got to doin' their own thing. That's the way it'll be with Thomas. 'Fore you know it he'll blend right in with the rest of us."

"I hope you're right." Bo admitted.

"Hey I KNOW I'm right." Luke added, raising his eyebrows in a knowing expression.

Bo shook his head and grinned, letting out a chuckle. He then raised his hand in the air, inviting his cousin to slap/grasp it. They then squeezed each others hand in a silent wish of luck shortly before the starting flag was waved.

XXXXXXXX

"Well it may be a little lopsided, but any way you cut it, it's still a victory cake." Daisy announced with a smile, setting a delicious, albeit imperfect chocolate cake in front of Bo and Luke as they sat at the kitchen table.

"_I_ helped make it." Tommy emphasized. "I'm the one who cracked the eggs. I even got them outta the chicken coupe myself, didn't I Dad?"

"You sure did, Tommy boy." Thomas replied, patting Tommy on the back before pointing at him. "This here kid is a firecracker egg-cracker."

"I don't doubt that." Luke confessed.

"Thanks everybody." Bo added, offering Tommy a smile.

"Well it was the least we could do for the newest champs of the Hatchapee County race!" Daisy said, admiring the trophy that sat on the table one more time.

"Well ain'tcha gonna eat it?" Jesse snarled when Bo made no effort to cut the cake.

"Just not much in the mood for cake right now." Bo replied.

"Wadn't much in the mood for supper either, was ya? And after I made your favorite dish, chicken and dumplins. I thought that combined with the fact that you'd won that race would give you some of yer appetite back, but you probably ate less tonight than ya did the last few nights."

Bo sighed. "I'm sorry Uncle Jesse. It's just that……it's…….."

Jesse sighed himself. "I wish you'd tell me what that 'it' is 'cause whatever it is, ya been ponderin' over it for the last few days and I'm 'bout to have appetite problems of my own tryin' to figure things out."

Bo let out another big sigh. "Okay Uncle Jesse, it's like this. Well, first of all, have you ever heard of Alan Tucker?"

"Can't say as I have." Jesse admitted.

"He represents Benchfield Auto Parts. That's them stores that have been poppin' up like crazy in a whole bunch of places these past couple of years. There's two or three of them in Atlanta and another one over in Chickasaw."

"I recognize the name." Jesse nodded.

"Well, when me and Luke here went over to Hatchapee the other day to pay the entry fee for the race, we got word that Tucker would be showin' up on race day, checkin' everybody out as potential drivers of the Benchfield car. Well sure enough, he's there today."

Jesse smiled. "Well that don't seem like nothin' to get upset over. I figured you'd like showin' off for somebody who had the authority to put you in Nascar. You looked good out there today too. Bet he was impressed."

"That's just it, Uncle Jesse. He was impressed."

Jesse slightly shook his head. "So why the long face?"

Luke took it upon himself to answer after Bo had failed to. "Tucker was real impressed. So impressed, as a matter of fact, that he offered Bo the job."

Jesse blinked a couple of times. "The job as the driver of the Benchfield car?"

"Yes sir." Bo replied.

"So……." Jesse replied. "For the past few days you've known that you's gonna have the chance to show off for the feller that had the ability to offer you your dream job, and today after a fantastic performance he actually did offer you that job, and you sit here lookin' even more depressed than you have the last few days? I don't understand it."

"It woulda been good if he'd never come in the first place." Bo replied. "But it woulda been even better if he'd never offered me that job."

Daisy was confused. "Bo, I don't understand what you would have against racing in front of him but if it was a problem, then why did you do it?"

"Because problem or no problem, they were payin' out a thousand dollars to the winner of that race, and we needed the money."

"All that aside, why would bein' offered this opportunity be so depressin?" Jesse demanded.

"You know why, Uncle Jesse." Bo replied, rising from his chair and pushing it under the table before he ran a hand through his hair. "Me 'nd Luke can't leave this farm. I mean there's….." He stopped and sighed. "There's just too much that needs doin' around here to leave you all by yourself. I tell ya, Nascar might be my dream, but I can 'bout guarantee you I'd be a whole lot better off if he'd just got up and left and never said a word to me."

After a few silent moments, Thomas asked. "So what you're saying is that you can't take the job because you've got to take care of the farm?"

"Yeah, that's what I said." Bo confirmed.

Thomas and Jesse gave each other a knowing look before Thomas asked. "Shall we tell them?"

Bo and Luke offered each other a glance before Luke asked. "Tell them what?"

"Fellas." Daisy began, looking at her cousins. "Thomas and Tommy, they're movin' in with us!"

"They are?" Bo asked as he and Luke looked at one another again with surprised expressions.

"Yeah! Isn't it great?" Tommy asked with his gap toothed grin.

"Um... yeah. Well I mean it is good, but it'll be a might crowded, won't it?" Luke asked.

" Well I wadn't gonna have us packed in here like a bunch of sardines. Tommy was gonna stay over at the camp and Thomas was gonna keep sleepin' in the barn for awhile. They wadn't gonna move in 'till we got that new addition put on."

"New addition?" Bo asked.

"Yeah." Daisy explained. "We all thought that the best thing to do would be to expand Aunt Lavinia's old sewing room and turn it into a bedroom for the two of them." Daisy explained.

"But we don't have to worry about that anymore." Jesse added, turning from Daisy to his nephews. "Since Thomas 'ill be staying here permanent, if you boys wanna go ahead and fulfill them Nascar dreams of yours, I'll send you with my blessin'. And as for the sleepin' arrangements, we'll just put Thomas and Tommy in your room."

_**Well, looks like ole' Bo just got everythang he ever wanted handed to him on a silver platter. Ya'll reckon he's gonna be jumpin' for joy?**_


	8. Chapter 8

It was a few moments before anyone said anything. Jesse, Daisy, Thomas and Tommy sat with excited grins on their faces, waiting to see how the boys would react to what they considered fantastic news. However Bo and Luke couldn't react, not as long as their mouths hung half-open.

Finally Jesse couldn't stand it anymore. "Well aren'tcha gonna say somethin'? I'm finally in a position where I can let ya go off with my blessin'. I figured you'd be grabbin' the shine jug out from under tha sink by now so's we could celebrate."

"Well uh..." Luke managed, looking at Bo. "...it's just that he's already turned Mr. Tucker down, Uncle Jesse."

"Is that all?" Jesse grinned. "He couldn't a turned him down no more than four, five hours ago. Now if that Tucker fella's been lookin' for a driver for months like them newspapers said, then it's doubtful he's found somebody else to drive for since he talked to Bo. So you boys jist call him and tell him you've changed your mind."

"So that's what we do?" Bo asked, finally coming out of his shock. "We just call Mr. Tucker up and then we take off?"

"Of course that's not it." Daisy replied, noticing the hint of anger in Bo's voice. "We realize it will take awhile for the two of you to make arrangements and pack your things. No one expects you to just take off."

"Expect? No one would HEAR of you just takin' off." Jesse validated. "You boys have spent your whole life on this farm and I wouldn't dream of sendin' you off no where without a proper goodbye."

"Yeah!" Daisy beamed in realization. "And you know what Uncle Jesse's talkin' about when he mentions a proper goodbye. Fella's, we've got a party to plan!"

"A party?" Thomas asked.

"All right!" Tommy beamed. "Can we have balloons, grandpa?"

"Balloons and streamers and cake and the biggest ham in the freezer, with all tha trimmin's." Jesse verified with a smile. "I might even have to whip up a big batch of my crawdad bisque."

"Now that's somethin' I'm lookin' forward to." Thomas beamed. "I've been wanting to know if all the rumors I've heard about the famous bisque are true."

"Oh they're true, trust me." Tommy grinned.

Daisy turned in Tommy's direction and pointed to a drawer behind him. "Tommy, will you get me a pad and pencil out of that drawer? We need to make a guest list."

Bo and Luke simply looked at each other as the rest of the group excitedly shared ideas and made plans for a grand farewell party in their honor.

"Okay, who do we want to invite?" Daisy mused, tapping the pen on her temple. "We have to invite Cooter and his brothers, L.B. and B.B." She began, writing down names. "And we couldn't leave out Russell and Brent McCamey."

"Or Chris Ridley and his dad, Abner." Jesse added.

"And Doc Appleby would wanna come. Oh, and I suppose ya'll wouldn't consider it a good party unless Becky Sue, Suzanne, and Lilly showed up, huh?" Daisy asked, smiling at her cousins in amusement.

"Can we invite Ms. Davis and them from the camp?" Tommy asked.

"I think they would be disappointed if we didn't invite them, seein' how Bo here helped to get the camp goin'." Daisy commented as she added the names to the bottom of the list. "And we have to ask Miz Tizdale."

"Emma?" Jesse snarled. "Oh don't invite her."

"Uncle Jesse!" Daisy exclaimed, the tone of her voice alone scolding her uncle.

"I'd be a sittin' duck! Now Emma don't run marathons no more, but me and these crutches wouldn't stand a chance against her."

Everything was happening so fast that Luke was a bit bewildered. Still, he managed to call his uncle on his lack of manners. "Now Uncle Jesse, don't you realize how disappointed Miz Tizdale would be if she found out there was a party here and she wasn't invited? Trust me, a couple of hours with her that day is gonna be a whole lot shorter than the couple of years she'd be goin' on about it if she wadn't invited."

Jesse looked at his nephew before he sighed. "Fine, Luke. I guess considering the occasion it'd only be proper for me to show Emma my hospitality. And seein' how it's fittin' to invite her, then I think it'd also be fittin' to invite…………..J.D. and Rosco."

"You want us to invite Boss Hogg? Willingly?" Luke asked, a sudden sour expression appearing on his face.

"Of course. What about you, Bo? Wouldn't you say that's fttin'?"

"I'd say this is gonna be one _terrific _party." Bo replied with the most sarcasm he could muster up. Before anyone had a chance to respond, he turned and opened the kitchen door before he stomped out of the house.

"Bo?" Jesse asked.

"I'll go after him." Luke announced, turning to the door himself.

"Let me, Luke." Thomas requested, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder. "I know it's hard to get Bo to open up, and while it's ironic to think that people will open up to strangers easier than their own kin, the fact is I'm still more or less a stranger."

Luke simply swallowed and nodded as he moved aside to allow Thomas to pass.

Once Thomas was outside he only had to scan the yard a few moments when some stray bits of hay falling from the barn loft clued him in to where Bo had gone. Looking through the loft opening he saw Bo sitting leaned up against the door frame, one leg bent and the other one laying out straight. He chewed on the piece of hay that dangled between his lips and caught sight of Thomas, replaying the smirk he had offered before leaving the house.

As Thomas walked toward the barn, Bo quickly got up and climbed down a couple of the ladder rungs before he chose to jump the rest of the way down. Once he landed on his feet, it coincided with the instant Thomas entered the barn.

"What is it now, Thomas? What did Uncle Jesse send you out here for?" Bo asked, holding his arms out in a questioning manner. "Does he need more hay stacked? Does Maudine need to be fed? Oh wait, I know, he wants the barn painted. A pretty apple red by your suggestion, no doubt." Bo continued. "Well whatever it is, you can go on back in the house to tell him I'll take care of it. Because from what I recall there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the job Luke and I was doing before the….._prodigal son_ showed up." Bo spat out.

"Bo." Thomas said, blinking in surprise. "Bo I came here because I wanted a job where I could be closer to Tommy, and I did all the work I did so you and Luke would have time to do what you needed to do to end that race. And you did. And you won, and it's paying off in a big way. And this is the thanks I get? Insults?"

"Yeah you worked all right. You worked your way right into this house and this family. You even worked so good that you worked your way right into my room!"

"Bo believe me, I had no idea that Jesse was my father but now that I've learned the truth, it's only natural that I would want to be with him. And as far as moving into your room, we were gonna build a room on but now that you're leaving, it makes more financial sense to just use yours. Surely you can see all that."

"Who said I was leaving?" I never said I was going anywhere. Luke told you I'd turned Alan down."

"Bo, it's your dream. Pa's known that for ages." Thomas replied, watching as Bo visibly cringed at hearing Jesse being referred to as 'Pa' by a man he had grown to despise. "You don't have to be stuck on this farm anymore. You don't have to be stuck with these chores anymore. You've been given the golden opportunity. Take it."

"Who are you, Superman?" Bo smirked again. "Luke and I barely have any free time runnin' this place. Having you around is just going to lighten the load. It would be impossible for one man to handle it all."

"I'm pretty sure I could handle it. And if I couldn't I'd just hire some help or something."

"With what money?" Bo asked.

Thomas swallowed, thinking that the tough approach might work better. Putting a hand on Bo's shoulder, he looked at him sternly. "The problems of this farm are not the concern of you and Luke anymore. I'll take care of it and Jesse. After all, he's _my_ father."

And in response, Thomas received a look of rage as Bo used one arm to knock his hand away and the fist on his other to deliver a right cross, sending Thomas to dreamland!

_**Ya know, I don't think that was the smartest thing ole' Thomas could'ave said. I bet he'll say the same thing……….as soon as he wakes up.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_Hey folks, Stewie speech time! First of all I want to apologize for the massive update delay. Those who have kept up with me in the past know that is not my usual style. I especially want to thank all of you who have given me reviews. Each and every one is much appreciated. That said, I hate to beg, but okay I'm begging, PLEASE PLEASE review! I know this one is not as exciting as some of my previous ones but I haven't had such a low review number since I started out in the world of fanfic. (And I assume that my six faithful reviewers have not liked this story so much that they have hit it 1045 times by themselves!) So as I've said before, if you hate it, tell me that too! I want to be able to improve if that is what is needed. Okay I'll quit crying now sniff sniff. Have a great week, and I do hope all of ya'll are making plans to visit my beautiful state this June for John Schneider's Dukesfest!)_

Thomas Vineyard was far from the top of Bo's favorite person list. However, his reaction to his new first cousin's statement immediately left the youngest Duke boy with a sense of guilt.

But whatever guilt that Bo's own conscious brought upon him was multiplied several times over by what he heard next.

"I hate you, Bo Duke!"

Bo jerked his head toward the door and instantly felt the rage that remained within him transform into sorrow. For in that moment he realized that when he had delivered that sucker punch, he inflicted pain on more than one person.

As soon as he had declared his feelings toward Bo, Tommy then turned his head back toward the house and began yelling for Jesse. Naturally, it didn't take long for those panicked calls to command the attention of more than one occupant of the house, especially considering that they were coming from a handicapped child.

Daisy and Luke quickly ran outside, followed by Jesse who was hopping with his crutches as quickly as he could. When they got to Tommy, the youth simply pointed at his father with a trembling lip. Looking at Thomas, they quickly knelt down to access the situation, but not before Luke and Jesse had both given Bo a quick glance, indicating that they were aware of exactly what had happened.

Seconds later after Thomas began to stir and he was certain his father wasn't seriously hurt, Tommy felt comfortable enough to turn the chair from the barn and back toward the house. He wasn't sure if he was going to go in the house, behind the house, or down the road. All he knew was that he was upset and he wanted to be wherever Bo wasn't.

"I'm sorry Uncle Jesse." Bo finally managed.

"Don't tell me." Jesse muttered, nodding toward Tommy whom he had seen leaving the barn.

Bo walked out of the barn and took a short jog to catch up to Tommy.

"Hey Tommy." He said softly. "Hey pal, I'm really sorry."

"Don't call me pal." Tommy muttered back as he continued to push at his wheels.

Bo didn't give up. "Tommy I was wrong. I acted without thinking and I never should have done that."

"Just don't talk to me." Tommy replied with the same muttered breath.

"Would you please stop?" Bo asked, grabbing onto the handlebars of his chair and forcing him to stop. He then went around and squatted down in front of him. "I'm trying to apologize to you Tommy. Now how am I supposed to do that if I can't talk?"

"I don't wanna hear nothin' you have to say Bo. Like I said, I hate you!"

Bo's face took on a serious tone. "Tommy, if I'd a talked to my elders at eight years old the way you're talkin' to me, Uncle Jesse woulda busted my hide."

"Well did any of your elders ever go around punchin' grandpa out?" Tommy retorted.

Bo's face simply turned solemn before Daisy ran up to the pair. "Tommy?" She asked, looking at the boy. She then took him into a hug. "Don't worry Tommy, your daddy's gonna be just fine. He's already awake and askin' about ya."

The hug and the statement was enough to make Tommy break down into sobs and his tears began to flow.

"Hey!" Daisy said, cupping his face and wiping tears away with her thumbs. "It's okay. You're daddy's just fine. I promise."

When he continued to cry, Daisy brightened with an idea. "Hey I know. Why don't we go back in the house and have a piece of that chocolate pie we made last night? After that, you can show me those card tricks you learned over at the camp."

"I don't wanna go back in the house!" Tommy sobbed, wiping his eyes. "I don't wanna stay here. I wanna go back to the camp. Daisy, please go in the house and get my things and drive me back over to the camp. I don't wanna stay with Bo no more!"

"But Tommy……" Daisy trailed off as Thomas, Luke, and Jesse walked up.

"Hey kiddo." Thomas said softly, giving Bo only a quick glace before he picked Tommy's chin up. Look at me. I'm just fine. You know you're old man doesn't stay down for long."

The statement seemed to make Tommy sob even harder. "C'mon now Rocky." Thomas encouraged him, using the tough pet name bestowed upon the youth to compare him to the famous fictional boxer. "I heard Daisy sayin' somethin' about that pie ya'll made, and I been hankerin' for a taste of it."

"I'm not goin' to eat no pie." Tommy said harshly, glaring at Bo. "I gotta get away from here."

As the group shifted with uncertainty as to what should be said next, Bo finally sighed. "No Tommy, you don't gotta get away from here. I do."

After a pause, Luke asked. "Are you sure that's the best thing to do?"

Bo nodded. "At least until things calm down."

He then climbed through the window of the General Lee. "I'll be at Cooter's if ya need me." He announced, starting the engine and taking off.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Late the next morning Jesse sat on the front porch, heaving a sigh as he pulled shucks off corn, twisting the cobs in his hands to loose the silky strands. He then dropped his latest cob in the basket, bringing the number to eight. He then looked over at the two remaining ears and wondered if there would be any reason to prepare them for supper that night as well.

As an engine sounded in the far off distance, Jesse concluded that his answer was about to arrive.

Moments later, Bo pulled up to the farm. Cutting the engine, he gave his uncle a forlorn expression before he climbed out.

Noticing that Jesse wasn't looking at him, he chose to sit on the front steps, facing away from him. The Duke men remained that way for a few minutes before Bo finally spoke up.

"Daisy at work?"

"Yep."

"What about Luke?"

"Pickin' up some more feed from Charlie Lewis."

He then sighed. "What about Tommy?" He asked.

"Over at the camp."

Bo's heart sank. "I'm so sorry Uncle Jesse. The last thing I ever wanted to do was run Tommy off."

After a pause, Jesse asked. "Well what did you think would happen after what you did in the barn last night?"

"Uncle Jesse, I didn't think about what I was doing in the barn last night. I mean, I didn't plan on hittin' Thomas or nothin'. It just sort of happened."

"Well don'tcha see Bo? That's the problem." Jesse snarled, picking up an ear of corn and ripping the shucks off. "You didn't think. You just acted on impulse. You gotta learn that ya can't do that. It's the sorta thing that's gonna get you in trouble in this world."

"I know….but…." Bo put his head down. "I don't have no excuse for it. Thomas does seem like a good guy and he has helped me 'nd Luke out a lot. It's just…..well one day we're all family and the next day a person none of us ever laid eyes on moves in and turns out to be a Duke. Guess it's just takin' a while for me to adjust." Bo heaved another sigh and turned around to look at Jesse for the first time since the conversation began. "Where is Thomas? Figure it's high time I gave him an apology."

"He ain't here neither." Jesse replied. "He's over at the camp with Tommy."

Bo felt extremely guilty. "You mean I run 'em both off?"

After a pause, Jesse managed a slight grin. "You didn't run nobody off. They're just fishin'. They'll be back later."

Bo managed a smile of his own and leaned his head back against a porch post.

"Bo….." Jesse trailed off. "You know why I keep preachin' to ya about not actin' on impulse?"

Bo chuckled. "Luke would probably say it's because I go deaf ever time you say it."

"It's because…." Jesse continued. "That I see a lot of myself in ya when I was your age. And I know how much them impulses can get ya hurt, and can cause hurt to that ones you love."

"I understand, Uncle Jesse." Bo assured him.

"No you don't. 'Cause ya see, it's not just things like impulsive fights that can get ya hurt. Sometimes it's things that look real good up front. Like impulsively eatin' too much at a buffet full of good food, or impulsively proposin' to a girl who turns out to be all wrong for ya in the end, or……..impulsively welcoming home a son without considerin' how it could affect the rest of your family."

Bo picked his head back up and stared at his uncle. "Uncle Jesse?"

Jesse simply nodded his head. "That's what's on my shoulders, Bo. Like you said, I brought a stranger in the house and expected you kids to warm right up to him. I didn't consider how any of you would feel, I just considered how I felt, and acted impulsively."

"Uncle Jesse, I didn't mean to make you feel guilty." Bo replied, shaking his head.

"You didn't. I just realize that as much as I might want to welcome Thomas into this family, the fact of the matter is we still don't really know if he even is a Duke."

"But the nurse at the hospital said..."

"I know what she said." Jesse interrupted. "But I also know she's about the same age as me. And I have trouble rememberin' what I had for breakfast this mornin', let alone events that happened over thirty years ago." He then sighed. "Maybe everything that's happein' with Thomas looks to be true because I really want it ta be."

Bo shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll just hafta assume it is, 'cause there ain't no other way ta know."

"Oh there is." Jesse nodded. "I've been talkin' ta Doc Appleby this mornin'. He's tellin' me about these new fangled tests they've started offerin' at places like them big hospitals down in Atlanta. Turns out if you got any doubt on a person's paternity, you can take a little blood or saliva from both of 'em and they have some way of matchin' up the samples so's you can know for sure who a person's parents are."

Bo leaned forward. "Uncle Jesse, are you thinkin' about this test for you and Thomas?"

Jesse looked at him. "Ain't just thinkin. We're doin'. We went by Doc Appleby's to give the samples this morning. In six weeks, we'll know exactly who Thomas Vineyard is."

_**Well I don't know about ya'll, but I don't know which outcome I'd feel better about.**_


	10. Chapter 10

Bo's eyebrow's creased into a serious expression. "Uncle Jesse, I never meant….."

Jesse held his hand up. "We done been over that. I know you're sittin' there thinkin' that I would never have agreed to this test if it hadn't a been for what happened in the barn last night. And I admit it's true that it's gonna be disappointin' if Thomas turns out not to be who I think he is, but it would be better than goin' all these years just hopin' and pretendin' without really knowin'."

Bo didn't know how to respond, so he simply stayed silent for a few seconds until Jesse's truck came rolling up to the house.

Once it stopped, Thomas simply glanced at him from behind the wheel before he got out. He then walked to the rear of the truck and lowered the tailgate, extracting the wheelchair. After he had unfolded it, he finally made his way to the passenger's side where he opened the door and picked up Tommy, placing him in the wheelchair. After the door had been closed, the Vineyard men then made their way to the porch.

"Howdy." Thomas said simply, nodding the greeting toward Jesse. Bo couldn't help but notice his slightly swollen and discolored jaw.

"Howdy yourself." Jesse replied. "How was the fishin'?"

Thomas let out a small laugh. "Last time I's in water that dead I's sittin' in the bathtub."

Thomas' statement was met by an equally small laugh from Jesse before the air filled with a few seconds of awkward silence. It was finally broken when Bo spoke up.

"Uh, Thomas." He began. "As you probably recall I had a little conversation with Tommy last night and what I said to him bears repeatin'. I'm sorry. I'm a grown man and Uncle Jesse raised me better than to act that way."

As Tommy shifted uncomfortably in the chair, Thomas sighed. "Well I've had some time to think on it myself, and I reckon I had it comin'. I guess you could say I got a little too bold in my new role as a member of this family. I mean, I can see now that I shoulda give everybody time to adjust to my bein' here before even suggesting such a thing as moving into the house, let alone your room."

Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe that proves all this impulsive actin' is just a natural Duke trait."

Bo chuckled. "You could just be onto something there, Uncle Jesse."

Turning back to Thomas, he held his hand out. "Why don't we just start over. Hi, I'm Bo Duke. And you?"

As Thomas began to shake Bo's hand, he looked him over. "Hi. I'm……… very glad to see you wearing pants this time around!"

As the men chucked, the handshake graduated into a friendly embraced. Jesse's heart warmed as he watched the exchange.

Ending the hug, Bo glanced at Tommy. "How 'bout you and me kid? We okay again?"

"Not quite." Thomas replied before his son even had a chance. Tommy's only response was to shift uncomfortably in his chair again.

As Bo's smile faded, Thomas explained the situation. "There was somethin' else that you said last night that had a lot of truth to it. Pop wouldn't 'ave ever let you get away with talkin' to your elders a certain way, and my adoptive father wasn't any different. For the most part I'd say we both turned out pretty decent. Maybe I'd be doin' my own youngin' an injustice by expecting anything less."

"What are you plannin' on doin', Thomas?" Jesse asked.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "I just felt like It'd only be fair to give Tommy exactly what I'd have been given if I'd a talked to Bo the way he did last night."

"I said I would apologize to him, Dad." Tommy finally spoke up meekly.

"And you will." Thomas replied. "Bo's done his apologizin' to both of us. Now it's your turn."

"I am sorry Bo." Tommy immediately began. "I didn't never think I could say anything like that to you. I mean, you're like my best friend in the whole world. It's just that when I saw you hit my dad, I guess I…………" He trailed off and lowered his head.

"It's okay Tommy." Bo replied, bending down to lift his chin up. "It's okay, really."

"No Bo, it's not okay." Thomas replied. "Now you might forgive him, but as far as what he did, it isn't okay."

"I won't ever do it again, Dad." Tommy insisted.

"I know you won't." Thomas replied, turning back to Bo. "Now if you don't mind showing me whatever tree it was you had to cut your own switches from growin' up, we'll get started."

With a pained look, Bo looked toward Uncle Jesse, hoping he might stop the whole situation. However in his calm wisdom, Jesse simply closed his eyes and gave Bo a slight nod.

Swallowing hard, Bo simply pointed across the yard toward the towering bradford pear tree. Once identified, Thomas turned to Tommy and handed him his pocketknife. As Tommy gulped, Thomas simply said. "We talked about this."

Without saying anything, Tommy slowly turned his wheelchair in the direction of the tree. Thomas walked alongside him until he arrived. Once he did, he nervously fumbled with the knife.

"Uncle Jesse." Bo whispered. "Don't you think this is going a little far, I mean…well he's in a wheelchair…….can he even feel it?"

"He's got plenty of feelin' in his hand." Jesse replied.

"Well I know but…." Bo trailed off. "I mean Jesse as far as you're concerned, he's your grandson. Can you honestly tell me you can stand to sit there and see him spanked?"

"Won't be easy." Jesse replied. "It ain't easy to watch and it ain't easy to give. But like Thomas pointed out, ya'll got 'em growin' up and you turned out pretty good. I just want Tommy to turn out well rounded himself."

By the time the conversation had finished, Tommy and Thomas had returned to the porch with the freshly cut switch in hand. "You ready boy?" Thomas asked.

Tommy began to tear up, but otherwise nodded his head.

"Well go ahead then." Thomas replied. "Give the switch to Bo.

"Me?" Bo asked, flabbergasted.

"Of course." Thomas replied. "You were the one he wronged."

_**I don't know 'bout ya'll, but I bet ole' Bo there would 'bout rather have his wisdom teeth pulled…..without painkillers.**_


	11. Chapter 11

"Jist hold on Thomas." Jesse spoke up before the switch had changed hands. "Now I agree that Tommy needs to be corrected, but I think it's you who needs to be the one doin' it. Bo's turn 'ill come when he has his own youngin's someday."

Bo looked at Jesse with relief, glad that the burden of deciding between punishing Tommy or arguing against it had been lifted from him.

Thomas looked as if he were thinking on the situation. "I just figured that since he'd said it to Bo, it would only be right to let Bo issue the punishment."

"When it comes to Tommy Bo's too soft to do any sort of a punishment justice." Jesse pointed out.

Thomas simply listened to Jesse's wisdom and looked at Bo's relieved face, realizing that even though correcting his son was a part of fatherhood he hated, it was still his responsibility. Summoning up more courage to take charge of the situation than Tommy would probably need in facing it, he turned to his son. "C'mon Rocky." He said. "It's time you were introduced to the woodshed."

"I don't want to." Tommy replied as he began to sob.

'Neither do I.' Thomas thought to himself before he motioned for Tommy to follow him.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"C'mon Bo, I'm about to starve!"

Those were the words uttered by Luke Duke exactly three weeks later as he sat in the General Lee outside the Hazzard Bakery.

"Alright, alright." Bo responded, hurrying over to the car as he balanced a perfectly decorated cake in his hands. When he arrived, he started to throw a leg through the window but paused, looking at the cake. He then went to set the cake on the front of the General before climbing halfway in. Deciding that wouldn't work, he then climbed back out and moved the cake to the top of the car. After doing that, he swung his legs in the car and sat on the sill before picking up the cake again. Sliding slowly into his seat, he suddenly stopped when the cake threatened to fall.

"Amelia Mae!" Luke called out when he saw one of Daisy's pretty friends walking by. Turning in the direction of the General, Amelia Mae smiled before she quickly saw Bo's predicament. Rushing over, she extracted the cake from his hands.

"Hey Bo, hey Luke. What's the occasion? It Uncle Jesse's birthday?" She asked, looking at the cake before handing it to Bo, who was now properly seated in the General.

"What would you say if we told you there might just be another Duke boy in town soon?" Luke asked.

"I'd say who's the lucky mother-to-be?" Amelia Mae giggled.

The boys chuckled before Bo replied. "No Amelia Mae, he means a full grown one."

"Then I'd say it might just be more than this town can handle." Amelia Mae smiled.

With another chuckle, the boys bid her goodbye before they raced toward home.

"Dang it, Luke, Mrs. Brewer took forever decorating this cake. I hope they didn't start without us."

"Just relax Bo. You know Uncle Jesse's gonna wait on us. Besides, we'll probably beat Thomas back. That temporary job he took in Calhoun was supposed to wrap up at 3 today and it'll take him an hour and a half to get back. We're probably lookin' at 5:30."

"I suppose you're right." Bo replied. "I mean, Jesse's been carryin' that letter around for two days. If he's been that patient in waiting to open it then I'm sure he'll wait on us if we're a few minutes late."

A short while later the boys arrived at the farm to find Daisy, Tommy, and Jesse outside. When they skidded to a halt, Daisy rushed forward and extracted the cake from Bo's lap, saving him from trying to figure out how to transfer it without ruining it.

"Waddaya think, Bo?" Tommy asked, gleaming in excitement as he nodded toward a glittery banner Jesse had hung across the front porch.

"Well…" Bo began as he exited the General Lee. "I think it's nice and all that, but….."

"Congratulations?" Luke asked. "Nice gesture but a bit presumptuous, wouldn't you say?"

"And assuming." Bo laughed. "There's no guarantee that Thomas would consider bein' a Duke reason for celebration."

"You mean there's no guarantee that bein' your cousin would be reason for celebration." Jesse snarled. "Not with the way you boys are always gettin' tangled up in stuff. Besides, it was either 'Congratulations', or Welcome Home Baby', 'cause that's the only two banners they had at the drug store. And unless one of you two has a little surprise you ain't told me about yet, I didn't see much sense in gettin' the other banner."

As the boys chuckled through the fact that Jesse's nervousness was getting the best of him, the sound of a horn interrupted their thoughts. They turned around and spied Thomas waving at the truck that had just dropped him off.

"Thanks a lot!" He called out as the driver waved in response. All the Dukes returned the friendly gesture as Thomas rushed up to Tommy.

"Hey Rocky!" He exclaimed, taking the youth in his arms and swinging him around.

"Hey Dad. You get all done with that job in Calhoun?"

Thomas wiped his sweaty forehead across his arm before he picked up his cap and extracted something from underneath. "Does that answer your question?" He asked, showing his son a wad of bills.

"Oh boy!" Tommy exclaimed, looking at the money. "Does this mean I can go get those comic books now?"

"I'd say it's a definite possibility." He replied, ruffling Tommy's hair. "But first I need to verify how well you kept up with the chores that were assigned to you while I was gone."

"Oh." Tommy simply replied, suddenly looking a bit sullen.

"But what's all this?" Thomas asked, looking back and forth from the banner to the picnic table which held the cake as well as other dishes.

"Well, we ain't too sure yet." Jesse admitted, pulling the unopened envelope from his pocket and handing it to Thomas.

Thomas took the envelope and noted the return address for the DNA lab in Atlanta. "Did this come today?" He asked.

"Couple of days ago." Daisy verified. "We didn't want to open it 'till you got back."

"Oh." Thomas replied. "Bet you all were beside yourselves waitin' to see what was inside."

"That's an understatement." Luke announced with a grin.

Thomas looked down at his clothes. "Well I hate to keep you waitin' any longer but if we're gonna have any kind of a party I wanna look fit to celebrate."

"Oh honey it can wait!" Daisy exclaimed. "I want to hurry up and find out you're my cousin so I can hug you grease and all!"

"Well………….okay!" Thomas agreed, looking around at all the excited faced and unable to pretend that he was calmer than any of them. "Go ahead Pop, you do the honors."

Jesse nodded and took the envelope back. Extracting his reading glasses from his pocket, he bent down beside Tommy and extracted his pocket knife. Sliding his knife in order to cut the flap, he folded it back up again and pulled the letter out. He then handed the envelope to Tommy.

And as he unfolded the letter and began to read, the rest formed a semicircle behind him, wanting to see the words for themselves.

_**When we come back, we'll see if they've been standin' there long enough ta take root.**_


	12. Chapter 12

As the Dukes and the Vineyards all strained to see the letter at the same time, each one had his own hopes as to what the contents would reveal.

But none of them expected it to say what it did.

"Can you believe that?" Jesse exclaimed, looking at the letter.

"Well what's it say? What's it say?" Tommy asked in excitement, unable to decipher some of the official jargon that the letter contained.

Luke shook his head. "Well Tommy, in a nutshell it's just a notification that the test results were sent to Doc Appleby's office!"

Daisy shook her head. "I can't believe we've been waiting two days to open that letter and all it does is point us in another direction!"

"Wonder why Doc Appleby didn't call us? We're his friends, it looks like he would have said somethin'." Bo mused.

"Well why don't we all go over there and ask him?" Jesse announced.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Calm down folks I'm gettin' it open as fast as I can." Doc Appleby announced a little while later as he fumbled with the key that unlocked the door of his third story office in one of the old rooms of the Hazzard Hotel. The Dukes waited impatiently behind him as did Thomas, who had carried Tommy up the stairs as no one really trusted the ancient elevator enough to use his wheelchair.

Once the doctor opened the door, he immediately had more assistance than he could handle when several members of the group bent down and began picking up the mass of mail from the floor that had been pushed through the letter slot over the week. The reason he hadn't called, they had discovered, was because he had spent the last week in Atlanta at an annual medical conference, leaving Doc Petticord to care for the folks of Hazzard in his absence. It was just good luck on the side of the Dukes when he happened to return to town at the same time they had went there in search of him.

"Here it is Doc!" Luke exclaimed after flipping through the pile of envelopes he had gathered and finding one that matched the one Jesse had been carrying around. Everyone else who had been sorting mail dropped their stacks on the desk and moved toward the doctor, who now held the envelope in question.

Doc Appleby held up his hands. "Folks……….please." He said with a tired look on his face. Everyone understood that to mean that he had just gotten back from his trip and needed a minute to breathe. In response, they did manage to back away and take or stand behind chairs that were facing his desk, although it was not with patience.

Doc Appleby then sat behind his desk and rubbed his eyes before he put on his reading glasses. He then took the envelope and opened it. But before he took out the contents, he looked at Jesse.

"Jesse, you're an old friend, and I can tell just by looking at you what you'd like this letter to say. But I've also been watching you all these past few weeks….you, Daisy, Thomas, the boys…… It seems as a group you had some issues to work out at first, but since you have, you've all gotten along beautifully. This letter, we don't know what's in it. It could change all that. I just wanna make sure you're really prepared to hear the results, no matter what they are."

As Jesse remained silent in thought, Luke looked at the doctor and answered on his uncle's behalf.

"We're nervous, Doc. But we ain't never been much for maybes."

As the rest nodded in agreement, Doc Applebytook out the letter. As he read through it, Bo put a supportive hand on Jesse's shoulder as Daisy wrapped her arm around Thomas, who was still holding a son who was wide-eyed as he awaited the impending results.

Doc Appleby completed the letter and folded it back up, reinserting it into the envelope. He then got up and walked around his desk until he stood in front of Jesse. "Jesse, you remember how we talked about the way Thomas' toes were fused together? About what an amazing coincidence it would be for two babies to be in the same hospital with the same condition in such a short time span?"

"I remember." Jesse replied as Luke laid a hand on his shoulder as well.

Doc Appleby gave him a slight smile. "Well, it would be an amazing coincidence." He replied looking around the group before he focused on Jesse again. "But I'm afraid in this case, that's exactly what it is."

Jesse blinked a couple of times as he took in the information. "You mean…..Thomas ain't my boy?"

Doc Appleby shook his head. "The results have an error level of less that one percent. I'm so sorry."

"But….but what about that nurse? Shirley? She guaranteed she saw no infant deaths in forty-eight!"

"Well she didn't…..during the time she was there." Doc Appleby replied with a sympathetic look as he glanced at Thomas and noted a hint of tears in his eyes as well. "Look, I didn't want to say anything to you until we got these test results back, but after she had talked with the boys, she approached me again a couple of days later with an apology. It turns out she didn't start working at the hospital until September of that year, and it seems she didn't think things through well enough to consider that all of this could have taken place before she took her job. You have to remember, you were asking her to recall events that are thirty-five years in the past."

Bo pursed his lips. "C'mon now Doc. We've heard Jesse say a hundred times over these past few weeks how much Thomas looks like his brother Rob. Now how can them test results be wrong if that's true?"

"Well I'm not saying he doesn't." Doc Appleby replied, holding up his hands. "But sometimes when we really want something to be true, we can usually find a way to make it true, at least in our own minds. In Jesse's case, maybe he could irk out enough resemblance to validate his wishes. Of course, Jesse, you grew up in a large extended family. You had cousins coming out of the woodwork…..some you never even met. It's all together possible that Thomas could be the son of one of those cousins. It would explain the similarities you saw, could even explain the fused toes. Might be a genetic mutation within the family."

When everyone lowered their heads, Doc Appleby shook his. "Look, I'm sorry. I hate to give out bad news. Believe me, if I had the luxury of picking out who I gave it to, it certainly wouldn't be my friends. The best I can suggest at this point is to tell you to look at little Tommy there." He continued, nodding toward the boy as the family instinctively looked at him. "You all had practically made him a member of the family before the possibility existed that he had Duke blood runnin' through his veins. There's no reason why that has to change."

"Oh believe me, Homer." Jesse finally said. "It won't."

Soon after everyone in the room took turns as they went around and thanked Doc Appleby for his information and empathy. A few minutes later, they were back outside the hotel, placing Tommy back in his wheelchair.

"Hey Tommy." Daisy said. "Chin up, we still have cake to eat, don't we?"

"Why? Ain't got nothin' to celebrate no more."

"Why sure we do." Jesse replied. "It's like the doc said, just because you ain't blood, don't mean ya ain't family."

The statement seemed to reassure Tommy and he managed a smile and reached for Jesse, who bent down to hug him.

"Hey Tommy, how 'bout a ride home in the General?" Bo asked.

"Can we jump the Toccoa River on the way?" Tommy asked, perking up in excitement.

Bo laughed and rubbed his head. "You got it."

"I'll get him settled in." Daisy laughed, steering the wheelchair in the direction of the General.

"I'll help." Thomas offered.

As the trio stepped away Luke put his hand on Jesse shoulder. "Uncle Jesse, I just want to apologize again. I know how much havin' a son meant to you."

"Yeah." Bo added. "It's a shame things didn't work out."

"That it is." Jesse nodded, looking at Bo and Luke. "But not because it left me without a son. Just means instead of three now….I still have my two."

And with that, Jesse offered them a smile, taking them both into a hug. It was returned with enthusiasm.

"Pop?" Thomas asked, coming back over to Jesse. He immediately caught his flub and looked guilty. "Sorry. Don't guess that's proper any more."

Jesse gave him a slight smile. "I suppose your right. But that youngin' of yourn called me Uncle Jesse for a long time before I became grandpa, and I'd be honored if you'd accept me as your Uncle Jesse too."

"I'd be thrilled…..Uncle Jesse." Thomas replied with a big grin. "And I was just wondering, even though I'm not kin anymore, would it be alright if I stayed on working at your place? 'Least till I can find a better job?"

"Not only would it be alright, it's a requirement!" Jesse assured him. "Now that Bo 'nd Luke are goin' to work in Nascar for Benchfield Auto Parts, I'm gonna need all the help I can get."

As Thomas smiled, Luke broke in. "Thomas, your help will be needed around the farm, especially with harvest comin' up, but we ain't leavin' you to handle it by yourself."

"You mean……" Jesse trailed off, looking at his nephews. "You ain't gonna drive for Benchfield?"

"That's right, Uncle Jesse." Bo nodded.

"But….your dreams……all that money…."

Bo put an arm around Jesse. "A wise old man….." He paused, laughing at the expression on Jesse's face when he realized he was talking about him. "…..once told me that you have to leave home to really realize whether or not you want to stay. What he didn't point out was that sometimes, just knowin' you have the opportunity to leave home is good enough to help you make that decision."

"Well." Jesse said, perking up. "Things didn't turn out well upstairs, but it still looks like you three boys are gonna hang around. That's not too bad, huh?"

"Sure isn't." Luke replied. "Today could have turned out a whole lot worse."

Just then a motorcycle drove up, containing a short lady covered in a knitted shawl. Miz Tizdale removed her helmet and looked at Jesse.

"Hey there Jesse." She smiled. "You about to be on your way home?"

"Uh…." Jesse trailed off, suddenly looking nervous. "Yeah."

"Good. Then I'll be over at your place waiting on you." She sighed dreamily, putting the helmet back on. "I was serious when I warned your boys about the measures I take to retrieve overdue library books." She added before she kicked the motorcycle back to life and steered in the direction of the farm.

"Library books?" Jesse muttered in confusion and dread. "What in the world kind of excuse is that to hafta put up with Emma Tizdale this evenin'?"

"Uh, Luke? You remember what you just said about how this day coulda turned out a lot worse?" Bo asked, looking nervously at Jesse.

"Yeah?" Luke replied in a questioning matter.

"For us, I think it's about to."

_**And that, folks, is how it all unfolded for Thomas Vineyard when he suspected he might be a genuine Duke.**_

_**Things got pretty normal around the farm again as everybody went back to doin' what they normally did. Daisy continued at the Boar's Nest, Tommy continued at the camp, and the boys and Jesse continued working at the farm…..with no complaint on the extra pair of hands to help out.**_

_**As for Thomas and Tommy, their Pop and Grandpa went back to bein' plain on Uncle Jesse again, but that's not so bad. 'Cause you see, there's two kinda uncles in this world. There's the kind that earn the title by havin' the right position in the family, then there's the other kind who earn it through love, understandin', and general carin' about people. And folks, ole Jesse' earned the title both ways. And I think if you really look at him, you'll see that even in the case of his own kids, it's the love, understandin' and carin' that earns his title best. Ya know, I kinda like that.**_

THE END


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